US health care spending experienced historically low rates of growth in 2009 and 2010, according to the annual report of national health expenditures (NHE) published in the January issue of the journal Health Affairs.
Analysts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) report in the article that the increase in spending for 2009 represents the lowest rate of increase in the entire 51-year history of the NHE. The low rate of growth, the data show, reflects lower utilization in health care than in previous years. The report notes that US health care spending grew only 3.9% in 2010, reaching $2.6 trillion or $8,402 per person, just 0.1 percentage point faster than in 2009.
In 2010, as health spending growth remained low, growth in the US economy as reflected in gross domestic product (GDP) (4.2%) rebounded. As such in 2010, the health spending share of the overall economy was unchanged at 17.9%. In the past, this share has increased, rising over time from 5.2% in 1960.
“We have worked hard since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 to lower health care cost growth,” said Marilyn Tavenner, acting CMS administrator. “We believe that the tools in health reform will help keep health care cost growth low while improving the value of care for consumers.”
